Sea World

So it's been a while. I know, I know. We've been lazy with the blog. Heather and I have just been enjoying all that San Diego has to offer. Sun, beaches, and $4.70 gas. We did go to Sea World the other day.

So it took us about an hour to get in (ticket issues) but once we did we had a GREAT time! It's full of exhibits, shows, a few rides, and some free beer samples (thanks Anheuser-Busch.)


Heather was partial to the penguins...

I think I like the shows the most. The first we saw were the dolphins.

It was at the dolphin show that I realized I'm a bit more gullible than I realized. They got a family out of the audience: a mom, dad, and son. They did all the things you would expect. Dad got to feed some squid to the dolphins. Mom got to shake their fins. Son got to pet one. All pretty standard stuff.... Then something happens. "Mom" fell in the water.


So most of you would probably think this was a stunt right away. Not me. My heart just starts pounding. The trainers told the "mom" to stay calm, but she needed to get the out of the water ASAP. They sent the dolphins to the back of the tank.... all but one went.


Now I'm sure most of you would be chuckling or rolling your eyes at this point. Not me. I'm just thinking I'm about to see "When Dolphins Attack" and wondering why the heck one of the trainers didn't just jump in to help this poor lady! It was about the time the dolphin started taking "Mom" for a ride around the tank that I realized I was a sucker. About 10 minutes later my heart beat became regular.... Heather claims she didn't fall for it, but she sure sat up straight and started snapping pictures as soon as "Mom" fell in the water...

After that we went and saw the Shamu show.

It was amazing... and a lot less stressful.

Turtles

FYI. Flamingos smell horrendous.

There was an underwater shark tunnel.... Just like Jaws 3.

Very...

...creepy.

This guy was great.

He knew his roll. He would look at a group of people and strike a pose like this on his rock. Then, after a few minutes he would look at another group of people and do an equally majestic pose. Give this guy a fish. If he wasn't the star of the park nobody bothered to tell him.

So that was Sea World. I learned I was a bit more gullible than I realized and Heather learned she needs to use something called sun screen. All in all it was a fun and educational day.

We'll try to update the blog more. I may try to do a video soon so people can see our apartment in San Diego.

Miss ya!

La Jolla Cove

So we've made it to La Jolla beach a couple of times now and it's really pretty.



La Jolla Cove has some rocky areas with small sandy beach areas. We'll have to check out some of the other beaches in the area.





The beach is only about 3 miles from our apartment. Its been really sunny while we've been here & the weather's been really nice.


















There's an area where seals hang out. They have the beach roped off so you can't get too close to them. They're all just hanging out sun bathing.






This little guy was scooting up the beach.

The views are just amazing.

We miss everyone and hope you're doing well!

New Mexico

Hello all.

So we've made it to San Diego. It was a nice leisurely trip. We took 4 days driving from Austin to San Diego and spent 3 days in the middle visiting Heather's parents and grandparents in New Mexico. Loki made the trip just fine. We tried our best to talk Heather's parents into adopting him but had no luck... :)

Here are a few pics from the trip...

Here is where Heather's grandparents live.
(click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Here are some picture we took around their house.

Some New Mexico wild life

I'm huntin for rattle snakes.











Here are some of our "kills" from when we went shooting the last time we visited.





Up on a plateau behind their house.

























They are actually filming a movie behind their house. It's called "Year One" and it's a biblical comedy staring Jack Black and Michael Cera.Once we climbed the plateau we could see where they were filming. We didn't see anyone famous, but here is what we could see...


Nothing too exciting, just some tent and trailers. It will be cool to see the movie when it comes out though.











Heather's parents and her birthday brownie. She just turned 32. (for those keeping score I am still firmly in my 20's)





Well I guess that's all for now. We'll post again soon to show people our apartment and a little of San Diego.

Love you all!
Ryan (and Heather)

Roller Derby

So we finally found a sport we can get into watching. Is it foot ball? no. Is is Baseball? no. Soccer? Badminton? Curling? No, no, and no. It's Roller Derby! Last Sunday (2-2) we went to the season opener of the Texas Rollergirls. It was great. There were 4 bouts and during the half time there was a band playing. It's kinda like Nascar in that they go fast and turn left, and everyone is waiting for a crash. There were a few brutal crashes too, and some fighting. At first I thought the fights were just for show, but then there was some pretty nasty hair pulling that had me second guessing that theory.

We took our video and regular camera...... but on the way we realized both had dead batteries. We found some pics on the internet to share though. ...

Do you see us?
Hello

This is Sparkle Plenty who got ejected from the game for brutally knocking Rice Rocket into the crowd and then getting into a ruckus at the other teams bench...

Here is Rice Rocket who was the star of the show. She zoomed around the track. The game was tied until the last few second when she scored the winning point. The crowd went crazy.

The girls ranged from cute to scary... Slightly more skewed toward the scary...

Here's a fairly mild wipe out. You can see how close the crowd is. That little barrier doesn't do all that much. A Rollergirl went flying into the crowd a few times. The biggest mistake you could make when that happened is spilling your beer. Huge party fowl.

Here is the coach of the Hotrod Honeys getting escorted out of the rink after a little altercation at the end of the night.

and here is a bit of that "altercation".

Another miss understanding among the teams...

But it really sounds worse than it was. It was a family event. Here are some kids playing on the track at half time.

Our stay in Austin is almost up just as the new Rollergirls season starts here. We were sad until we found...

Aw yeah. Our Roller Derby nights will live on in San Diego.

And for anyone interested in the rules, here is what I got from the Rollergirls site. ..

The first thing you need to know are that there are three positions:

pivot: sets the pace for the pack and is the last line of defense

blocker: tries to stop the jammer, knocks around the opposing team's blockers

jammer: sprints through the pack, scoring points by passing members of the opposing team

The pack starts with a pivot from each team in front, 3 blockers from each team in the middle, and a jammer from each team in the back. When the whistle blows, the pack takes off, and on a second whistle, the jammers start fighting their way through the pack in an attempt to be named "lead jammer." The jammers lap the pack and when they re-enter the pack, the receive one point for each member of the opposing team that they pass. A jam lasts a maximum of two minutes, but the "lead jammer" has the right to call off the jam at her discretion.

It sounds simple, but it's not ... 'cause there are two little things called "falling" and "fighting" that fill some jams with mayhem, violence, and penalties. Hell, yeah.